Mary Shelton, a pen and ink artist from Cabot, will present a demonstration of how she achieves her work at the monthly meeting of the Pine Bluff Art League from 2-4 p.m. Sunday in the Donald W. Reynolds Community Services Building, 211 W. Third Ave.
Shelton just completed a show at Fairfield Bay, according to program chairman Dell Gorman.
“Mary’s work is something all artists and anyone interested in art should see,” Gorman said.
When Shelton was in her mid 50s, she enrolled in a distant art education class at the Art Instruction School in Minneapolis, Minn. Upon the completion of this course, she entered Arkansas State University at Beebe, where she received an associate of arts degree. She continued her art education at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and received a bachelor of arts degree in studio art in December 2003 and a master of arts degree in studio art in May 2006. In the summer of 2006, she completed a residency in printmaking at the Vermont Studios in Johnson, Vt.
She is married to Larry Ray Shelton and is the mother of Melissa Crawford and Christopher Alan Barkley, and the stepmother of Rita Lynn Ward. The couple has five granddaughters and five grandsons. Mary is also an avid gardener and enjoys reading, cooking, hiking, bird-watching and traveling.
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Shelton said when she paints she limits herself to basic shapes and rhythmic motions and uses a primary color palette to form the vivid hues that she has become known for.
“I went back to my pen and ink during a time of physical difficulty and produced an entire exhibit that concentrates on the perils of women and children in their journey of life. These works are truly works of faith, because not only did I have faith that my picture would emerge from the gridded lines, but I had, and continue to have, faith that God is going to be with each of my subjects from the beginning to the end of their journey of life,” she said.
Guests to the meeting should enter at the Fourth Avenue entrance.